BNSF News

Suspects Arrested during Operation Valley Reign Phase I

2010-02-22

BNSF Resource Protection conducted the first phase of Operation Valley View in late January with efforts concentrated on thwarting high-value train burglaries in Kern County, Calif. Ten BNSF representatives from seven states worked with representatives from another railroad and local law enforcement.

On the first evening of Phase 1 activity, the team watched a high-value eastbound train leaving Bakersfield, Calif. As the train entered Sandcut, which is 12 miles east of Bakersfield, officers saw people who appeared to be "casing" the train. The suspects tried to get away, but their vehicle became stuck on the tracks, and both suspects, later identified as known train burglars, ran into an adjacent field. Train traffic was briefly stopped while the suspect vehicle was safely removed; a Kern County K-9 team arrived and helped find one of the suspects with assistance from Senior Special Agent Mark Montgomery. The second suspect is still at large.

A couple of days later, during a surveillance operation, Senior Special Agent Chris Scott and Senior Patrolman Scott Poundstone spotted a suspect's vehicle. Senior Special Agent Mike Warnock led a stop of the suspect's vehicle, coordinating a response from the team, and arrested two more known burglary suspects.

On the last evening of the operation, the team again set up surveillance on the east side of Bakersfield, looking for suspect vehicles. Senior Patrolman Jerry Goodwin spotted a suspect's vehicle. Surveillance teams were set up, and when the vehicle was moved, four people were arrested. One of the four suspects was a convicted train burglar that Resource Protection had arrested during a burglary operation in June 2009. Two of the other suspects were also convicted felons. Four additional arrests were made in Southern California related to the train burglaries.

"This was one of our best efforts so far," Warnock said. "We're improving with every operation."

During the nearly two-week Operation Valley Reign Phase I, not a single train was burglarized in the Northern California territory. Burglaries were thwarted, and 11 arrests resulted from the operation. BNSF Resource Protection also learned information that will be used for future operations. Most importantly, the activities of Operation Valley Reign Phase I were conducted injury- and accident-free.

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